KFTC Blog

This spring 2019, KFTC’s Steering Committee voted to go “all in” to impact the important elections in 2019 and 2020. They saw the urgency of this moment when so many things – our health care, pensions, schools, environment and our democracy – are at stake. Impacting the elections means engaging with hundreds of thousands of voters and changing the narrative about what’s possible in Kentucky. In the letter below, KFTC Chairperson Meta Mendel-Reyes explains why this moment is different – and why we have to rise to it.

Late this spring, KFTC began a Racial Justice Assessment and Visioning process. This update is the first of what will likely be an ongoing series where we’ll share updates on what we’re learning, activities we’re engaging in, and potential next steps as we go through this process.

In June 2018, the KFTC Steering Committee held a racial justice workshop for its summer retreat. Coming out of the workshop were three ideas the Steering Committee wanted to explore: 1) a racial justice audit or assessment of KFTC’s overall work; 2) a People of Color Caucus for members and staff; and 3) a Racial Justice Advisory Committee.

After further discussion, the People of Color Caucus has gotten underway and the Steering Committee put on hold the Racial Justice Advisory Committee until after we go through the assessment process.

KFTC members and residents of many other coal producing states and regions have followed the activities of Revelation Energy, LLC with increasing alarm in recent years.

They watched closely as the company went a buying spree, acquiring hundreds of mine permits and hundreds of thousands of acres of mines in Kentucky alone from 2014 to 2018. They tracked notices of dozens of safety, health and environmental violations and overdue taxes charged against Revelation Energy, many of which remain outstanding. (According to the Lexington Herald Leader, Revelation Energy has been the top violator of reclamation and environmental rules in each of the last three years.)

And throughout this year, KFTC members actively organized against proposed mining permits and permit amendments sought by Revelation Energy that threaten water quality and community well-being in Harlan and Pulaski counties.